As seen in the Chicago Sun-Times
Published January 18, 2009
By Shamus Toomey

CAROL STREAM - Craig Ramirez is a delivery man for UPS. And he's got a pretty good idea what the jokes at work will be when he returns.

That's because Saturday morning, the Carol Stream man delivered his own daughter. In his own living room. In the dark.

His wife, Lisa, really gets the credit. She did the hard part. But Dad got to share in the experience in a way he never imagined.

It started at 3:30 a.m. Saturday when Lisa woke him to say she was in labor. They already had four kids, so Craig thought he knew the routine.

But as Lisa was putting on her shoes at the front door, she felt something different.

"She said, 'The head is coming out!' " Craig said. "I said, 'No, it can't be coming. It can't. That's not even in the realm of reality.' "

Craig called 911, but there was no time. With Lisa standing up and leaning on a sofa, Craig, 34, got on his knees and put his hands on his daughter's emerging head. With a little help, she slid out and into his hands.

They hadn't even had a chance to turn on the lights.

"I basically went by what I had seen the doctors doing for the other four babies," he said. "I thought, 'I can't do this.' But there was nothing else I could do. It was me. That's it. I said, 'Craig, it's all you, man.' "

The baby started crying immediately, which he knew was a great sign. The 911 operator told him to wrap the baby in a towel and use a shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord. He used a lace off his New Balance running shoes.

When the paramedics arrived, one was jokingly disappointed she didn't finally get her chance to deliver a baby.

Lisa, 31, said she's proud of her husband, but she gave most of the credit to little Amelia Yvonne Ramirez, who Dad says is "really cute."

"I think it was all her," Lisa said. "She was ready to come out, and she did all the work."

Craig says he can't wait to hear the 911 tape of his call.

"Wow, I can't believe I delivered one of my children," he said Saturday night. "I'm glad it went well. . . . My work is going to have a field day."

Lisa says the UPS delivery man jokes are "pretty funny." So was her doctor, who walked into her Central DuPage Hospital room later Saturday with a smile.

"Well," said the doctor, "That was easy."